Replacing footage with an alpha channel

greetings gurus... I'm working in FCP 5.1 with DVCPRO HD footage 720p @23.98fps. I have an edited sequence of green screen footage that I am happy with. I then keyed out the green from the original source footage and exported that footage with an alpha channel (the background keyed out in AE7). My goal is to open my FCP project and replace the original source footage with the new keyed out footage so that my edit remains in tact but now with a keyed out background. I'm using the reconnect media function in FCP and of course the footage is replaced, but without the alpha channel.
When I import the keyed out footage directly the alpha channel is present; it just isn't present via the reconnect media method.
Any suggestions on how to pull this off?

it may be that for whatever reason FCP is not interpreting the alpha channel correctly when you use the reconnect option. for example, the reconnect option may assume that clip properties are unchanged. this may be esspecially true within the timeline, where instance properties are preserved.
you may be able to manually overcome this by adjusting the alpha channel information in the clip properties window
select one of the reconnected clips (one with the alpha channel from AE) and press cmd-9. see what setting is reported for the alpha channel. if it says None, try changing it to Straight.

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